Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

They were all big bosses from the "Mitsu-Shichiminato" group, and they saw each other all the time. Together, they operated the entire Japanese shipbuilding commercial trade system, with competition and cooperation intertwined.

Having written the document identifying the Tsushima clan and added his monogram, Shichibei handed the letter and two samples of red flower cakes to his subordinate, Ieyasu, and told him to take a boat to Sakaimachi to find Tennojiya.

At this time, Japanese shunting ships could be considered to depart almost daily, as there were many ships going up and down the river as long as the wind was right. They traveled from Sakai to Ōminato, Tsushima, Atsuta, Suruga, and Odawara, and then headed to Ōshu. Once the goods in Kyoto's "upper reaches" were sold out, they would haul gold, horses, timber, medicinal herbs, red rice, and kelp from Ōshu back to Sakai.

The term "上上" (shàngshàng) became fixed during the Edo period, referring to goods produced in Kyoto (and in most contexts, Osaka), which traveled from the kamifune (seagoing vessel) to the lower reaches of Edo.

Edo during the Edo period was a purely consumer-oriented city with a population of one million, of which six or seven hundred thousand were samurai and two or three hundred thousand were service industry workers. The real manufacturing cities were Osaka and Kyoto.

Actually, it's pretty much the same now. The main manufacturing cities are Sakai and Kyoto, and you can imagine that almost all handicrafts come from these two places.

Thus, the ships rushing to Sakai above naturally numbered like clouds.

With the second matter settled, Shichibei could now use a small boat to haul alfalfa and barnyard grass to Komakiyama Castle for sale. Barnyard grass is essentially a type of grass seed, and the horses on the grasslands get fat by eating grass seeds. Just eating grass wouldn't be enough to keep up with their horsepower.

The castle is surrounded by hundreds and thousands of samurai and foot soldiers, along with Nobunaga himself, who keeps over a thousand warhorses and riding horses, all of them of exceptional quality. Not only must they buy alfalfa, but if they can find millet, that would be ideal.

As usual, Shichibei first delivered alfalfa and millet to Sakuma Nobumori's house. Sakuma Nobumori even invited Shichibei to stay for a meal, repeatedly saying that he was doing his best to serve the Otate-sama.

He then introduced his eldest son, the future Sakuma Nobue, to Shichibei.

It's quite unusual that nine-year-old Sakuma Jinkuro didn't become Nobunaga's page. He doesn't look bad at all, and he's developing quite well. I don't understand.

However, these are all Oda Nobunaga's thoughts. If he wants to play with the Mori family kids, that's his business. Shichibei should mind his own business; anyway, we're too old to be Nobunaga's pageboys.

After delivering the goods to the Sakuma family, Shichibei also sent some alfalfa and millet to the Niwa Nagahide and Murai Sadakatsu families. Only after delivering these were the remaining goods brought out to sell openly.

Last month, with Nobunaga's permission, Shichibei had a 200-tsubo (approximately 63 square meters) plot of land near Komakiyama Castle. No house was built; a temporary wooden hut was erected, and the rest were just thatched huts, now piled high with dried materials.

Back in Kiyosu Castle, cutting hay and drying feed for their horses in the autumn was a daily task for many samurai servants. Now, thanks to Shichibei's cheap alfalfa supply, their work is easier, and the samurai's horses are also well taken care of.

"Shichibei, you're a 'bamboo abacus samurai' now." Sugaya Nagyoya came over to buy horse feed and greeted Shichibei when he saw him.

"Isn't Lord Kyuemon's skill in making a living also related to abacus calculation?" Shichibei and Sugaya Nagayachi had a decent relationship, so they could already joke around.

Those who hold official positions, especially those responsible for domestic affairs, must be very good at calculating. If they couldn't even keep track of the accounts reported to Nobunaga, they would have been fired long ago.

“Likewise.” Then Sugaya Nagayori moved a bead down on Shichibei’s abacus.

10% off.

"Thank you for your kindness." Shichibei readily agreed. He shouldn't be thinking about making money from this kind of business; he should just consider it as making friends.

Outside the thatched hut were servants and women from various households. The servants were there to carry millet home, while the women paid for their meals. Some of the samurai were roughnecks, truly pig-like samurai, good for nothing but fighting, and their wives managed the household entirely. It was said that some samurai were so addicted to drinking that they couldn't even afford rice cakes for the New Year.

Considering that a business of 200 strings of cash a year is still quite profitable, after all, with wars happening every day these days, people are willing to spend money on things like warhorses to save their lives.

The profit margin is small. You have to hire people to cut grass and hire boats to transport it. Although neither is expensive, it's still your own money that's being spent.

Another thing, sure enough, someone came to ask if Kawamura-ya was selling horses. Not ordinary packhorses, but warhorses. Even during World War I, warhorses remained a valuable military resource, that much is undeniable. The samurai who came to ask was probably trying his luck, and even said that he was introduced by Yamauchi Kazutoyo.

Sigh, don't even mention Yamauchi Kazutoyo, even if his wife introduced someone, it wouldn't work. Shichibei only had one warhorse, and he already bought it. Where would he get another one?

Takeda Shingen didn't concern himself with the sale of ordinary pack horses, but he was extremely strict about controlling warhorses. Ask his neighbor, Uesugi Kenshin, if he did the same.

Pack horses can be bought at will, but warhorses are entirely a matter of luck.

Come back in half a month and see if the Takeda clan has sold any warhorses to Kawamura-ya. If Takeda Shingen doesn't sell them, then there's nothing I can do.

The visitor could only sigh and leave, muttering that he had nowhere to buy horses. But there was no need to worry. Once Nobunaga conquered Omi and unified the northern and southern markets, he could directly contact the Oshu merchants who traded northwards. At that time, Nobunaga's supply of warhorses would be relatively abundant, as the daimyo of Oshu did not have particularly strict control over them.

After all, the region of Aozhou is harsh and cold, and rice cultivation is limited, with rice production relying mainly on dryland rice. There are no particularly noteworthy specialty products to trade with merchants from higher regions. Therefore, the relatively readily available horse resources of Aozhou inevitably have to enter the trade and distribution process.

Anyway, Ou is a vast and sparsely populated area with many pastures and good resources. There are a huge number of horses that are half free-range and half artificially raised, and they are sold out every day, so there is no sign of them decreasing.

"I'll send someone to deliver it to your door." Shichibei saw Sugaya Nagayori off from his bamboo shed. It was just a matter of hitching up an oxcart and making two trips with the few dozen bundles of grass he had bought.

"Then I'll accept your offer without hesitation." Sugaya Nagayori naturally wouldn't refuse and left with a smile.

"Master..." Just as I was seeing off Sugaya Nagayori, a servant came running over and called Shichibei.

Shichibei told him to wait, "Can't you see we're seeing someone off? What are you yelling for? Even if it's a big deal, a minute won't make a difference."

Sugaya Nagayoshi, on the other hand, smiled and told Shichibei to go about his business at the shop if needed. Everyone was in Owari anyway, so it didn't matter whether they saw the customer off or not.

Alright, Shichibei turned around and noticed that this house looked familiar. Of course it looked familiar. After calming down, he suddenly realized that this was the house he had sent to Sakaimachi.

Why are you back so quickly?

It hasn't even been seven days since the trip.

"Something terrible has happened, Master." Jia Lai was somewhat knowledgeable after all, so he didn't say what the big deal was in front of everyone. Instead, he pulled Shichibei behind the haystack.

"What's all this secrecy about?" The weather was already hot, and it was especially hot inside the haystack.

"A great upheaval has occurred in Luoyang! The Prince has been murdered by the Miyoshi Triumvirate and Matsunaga Uemon!" Iera uttered these words with a trembling voice.

With a "boom!", a word suddenly popped into Shichibei's mind—Eiroku's treason.

Regardless of how many broken nails remain on the wrecked ship that is the Muromachi Shogunate, there is no doubt that Ashikaga Yoshiteru is still the universally recognized Shogun. Just look at what Date Terumune is called, and what Mori Terumoto is called; even the heads of such powerful and influential families acknowledge Ashikaga Yoshiteru's position as Shogun.

As the highest-ranking lord of all samurai families in Japan, Ashikaga Yoshiteru's assassination was truly a coup d'état, a coup of d'état that shook the heavens and the earth.

"Come with me!" Shichibei grabbed Yara's hand and pulled him toward the horse.

One man and one horse, disregarding any possibility of collision, charged towards Komakiyama Castle at breakneck speed. The guards at the castle gate already recognized Shichibei because he had been inspecting land and receiving declarations there earlier. If it were anyone else, they would have already thrust their spears at him, piercing him through first.

Today's duty officer is Nobutoshi Hisamatsu, another centurion of Nobunaga. I don't know him well, but his family is the Hisamatsu Matsudaira family that will later become the Edo Shogunate.

Yes, to reiterate an old saying, almost all the samurai of the Owari-Sankawa region were "traitors to three masters," so there's no need to boast about them being the most loyal and righteous people throughout history.

Grabbing Hisamatsu Nobutoshi's sleeve, Shichibei exclaimed that there was something earth-shattering that needed to be reported to Nobunaga immediately, and that there was no time to lose.

Needless to say, Hisamatsu Nobutoshi was naturally skeptical. After all, what important matter could a hay seller at the foot of the castle possibly have to report? But Shichibei was, after all, a nobleman of 260 kan, so he had to inform him.

So he summoned a servant to go into the city and ask Nobunaga's close aide, Sassa Narimasa, if Nobunaga had time to see Shichibei. Shichibei was left pacing anxiously at the city gate.

After waiting for at least twenty minutes, the attendant finally came out and said that Nobunaga could see Shichibei. Shichibei grabbed his retainer and rushed into the castle, but Hisamatsu Nobutoshi stopped them. "Nobunaga can see you, but your retainer cannot."

Alas, formalism is a killer.

With no other option, Shichibei rushed into the castle first. There he found Nobunaga practicing archery, seemingly unconcerned about what Shichibei was doing. He didn't even bother to ask what was wrong when Shichibei reached the archery range.

Because Shichibei was a hereditary retainer, and his sword had been taken away from the doorway, the other Nobunaga retainers ignored him. Seeing that Nobunaga still had time to fiddle with the fletching of his arrows, Shichibei rushed forward and knocked the arrows down.

Nobunaga looked at Shichibei with disbelief, while his attendants shouted that he was being rude and tried to seize him.

"My lord, a great upheaval has occurred in Luoyang! Your Majesty was murdered by villains four days ago!" Shichibei immediately met Nobunaga's gaze and loudly reported to him.

"What!" Nobunaga, who was still confused, dropped his yumi and grabbed Shichibei by the collar.

"The king was assassinated four days ago by the Miyoshi Triumvirate and Matsunaga Uemon," Shichibei repeated, adding a subject.

"Where did this news come from?" Nobunaga's eyes darted around, his expression changing rapidly.

To kill a general, especially in the capital city of Luoyang, is an utterly heinous crime; there is nothing worse than this in the world.

"My family is from Sakai Town."

"What about people?"

"It's right below the city."

Nobunaga, shirtless, sprinted off, pulling Shichibei along with him. He recognized Shichibei, but didn't know where Shichibei's house was. The attendants around him only heard a few words and hadn't reacted yet; they only saw Nobunaga and Shichibei "eloping."

There was no other way, so the group immediately followed.

Shichibei felt like his lungs were about to burst, while Nobunaga only experienced slightly erratic breathing. This kid certainly had some skill. With such agile feet, he truly deserved to be one of the three great unifiers of the Sengoku period.

Upon reaching the door, he saw the house Shichibei had pointed to and went up to ask what had happened in Kyoto. He recounted in detail everything he had learned from Sakaicho, down to the smallest detail.

Ieyasu hadn't expected this to be Nobunaga, but was intimidated by Nobunaga's imposing presence. Fortunately, he was somewhat worldly-wise and didn't fall silent. He then recounted to Nobunaga all the information he had gathered in Sakaimachi.

Nobunaga's expression changed drastically upon hearing this.

"Really, really, really..." Nobunaga thought to himself that he would never dare to kill the shogun. Exile was already the limit. He never expected that there would be such an extremely evil person in this day and age.

38. One cake is worth five hundred coins.

The drums on Komakiyama Castle resounded loudly, and all the senior retainers and generals of the Oda clan knew that Oda Nobunaga was gathering his retainers. All the senior retainers were required to put aside all their affairs and immediately rush into the castle to pay their respects to Nobunaga.

Some people even hurriedly began to don their armor. After all, the fact that Oda Nobunaga did not send troops to attack Saito Tatsuoki after the summer harvest did not mean that Saito Tatsuoki could not attack Nobunaga. It was possible that Tatsuoki had already crossed the Nagara River and was marching towards the Kiso River, requiring immediate action.

One after another, the samurai generals swarmed to the foot of Komakiyama Castle. To their astonishment, Nobunaga, shirtless, was questioning a lowly-looking samurai at the castle gate.

Those leading the horses and unsheathing their swords gathered around Nobunaga. Nobunaga's older brother, Nobuhiro, even pulled aside a page, demanding to know what had happened.

Ashikaga Yoshiteru, the Shogun of the Muromachi Shogunate, was assassinated!

Just like Shichibei, the senior retainers were also terrified when they heard the news. All the generals of the land had been murdered; the world was about to change drastically.

After Nobunaga finished asking his questions, he didn't go into the castle. Instead, he looked around and found that the senior retainers had already arrived. He then sat down on the bow and arrow stand and asked the senior retainers for their opinions.

Now that the shogun has been assassinated, the situation in Kyoto is bound to change. Who will be the next shogun, and who will support him, is of even greater importance.

The person who supports the shogun will become the ruler of the land, possessing the authority to punish disobedient subjects and mediate disputes among samurai families. The Shiba clan, the former lords of the Oda clan, once held such power.

Owari is not far from Kyoto, only about 100 kilometers away as the crow flies, so Nobunaga certainly had his own thoughts about it.

Mori Yoshinari, who arrived first, immediately stated that regardless of anything else, the most urgent task was to send someone to Kyoto immediately to reconfirm the news and gather more specific information. Nobunaga immediately nodded, indicating that this was indeed the case. Shichibei, of course, would not joke about such a matter, but confirming the news was also necessary.

With a casual gesture, Nobunaga spotted Kinoshita Tokichiro a short distance away outside the door. He immediately ordered Tokichiro to take men to the vicinity of Kyoto and return quickly to gather information.

Kinoshita Tokichiro wasn't actually qualified to attend the meeting, but as the head of a hundred foot soldiers, he was required to immediately don armor and go into battle if needed. That's why he appeared at the castle gate to gather information. He was immediately appointed by Nobunaga.

He turned and left without hesitation; Fujikichiro now carried out Nobunaga's orders without reservation.

On the other side, Sakuma Nobumori spoke up. "We don't know if the shogun's eldest son is still alive. If he has also perished, then we must keep a close eye on the Asai of Hubei, the Asakura of Echizen, and the Takeda of Wakasa, especially the Asakura of Echizen."

Since the assassination of the shogun was carried out by the Miyoshi Triumvirate, and the Hatakeyama family had already declined, in order to revive the shogunate, the shogun's brothers, who were qualified to succeed him, would definitely flee to Rokkaku and Asakura.

We have no way to inquire about the Rokkaku family for the time being, but the Asakura family can. If we cannot support a general, we can at least give him money or send him attendants and soldiers to ensure his safety and win his favor.

If we're looking for a brighter future, maybe we can intercept the general if he flees to Hubei.

Yoshiaki had quite a few younger brothers, including the monk Ichijōin Kakukei, the monk Rokuinen Shūgō, and the monk Hōkyōin Rigen. It was customary in the shogun's family that the eldest son would succeed to the shogun, while the other children would be sent away to become monks to prevent sibling rivalry. In certain circumstances, being sent away to become a monk meant they were no longer considered "ordinary people," but rather beings serving gods and Buddhas.

If there is a general or successor, it is legally untenable for a monk to vie for the throne.

Returning to secular life, or even inheriting another family business, is another matter entirely.

Nobunaga nodded upon hearing this. On one hand, he sent someone to Odani Castle under the guise of visiting Oichi and presenting her with local specialties from Owari Province. On the other hand, he sent someone to the Kinai region to find out about the other sons of the late Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiharu.

At this time, Nobunaga and the others were unaware that the Miyoshi Triumvirate dared to commit such a heinous act of murdering the Shogun only because they possessed the precious Ashikaga Yoshihide. Ashikaga Yoshihide was the son of Ashikaga Yoshinobu, who was a brother of Ashikaga Yoshiharu.

Given that Ashikaga Yoshiharu had no heir, Ashikaga Yoshihide did indeed have a right of succession. Otherwise, his right of succession would have been ranked after that large group of monks.